Wood Green School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Leaders at all levels, teachers and governors have effectively brought about improvement across the school. Leaders make very effective use of information on students' progress to identify where strengths and weaknesses lie. Subject leaders make a positive contribution to improvement by closely monitoring the quality of teaching in their departments.

Achievement has improved and is now good. In most subjects, students are on track to meet their demanding targets. Disadvantaged students and those who are disabled or have special educational needs now make better progress.

The sixth form is good because leaders carefully monitor s...tudents' progress. As a result, achievement in the sixth form is good. Sixth formers make a positive contribution through whole-school leadership positions and by acting as role models for younger students.

The quality of teaching is good. Strong personal relationships between teachers and students contribute to students' learning. Teachers' effective marking and feedback help raise students' achievement.

Teachers make good use of information on students' progress towards challenging end-of-year targets when they plan lessons. Leaders work closely with support assistants who have specialist expertise to ensure students are kept safe. Students' social, spiritual, moral and cultural development is promoted effectively across the school and strongly contributes to the school's caring ethos.

Attendance is rising, and students behave well. The governors have a sharp understanding of how well students are achieving across all key stages. They use this to challenge the school to do better.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Students, including the more able and those in the sixth form, are not always provided with challenging enough work. Consequently, they sometimes do not make the rapid progress of which they are capable. Some teachers do not build well enough on students' previous learning, including that gained at primary school.

Information about this school

The school is a larger than the average-sized secondary school with a sixth form. The headteacher joined the school in April 2013. A new Chair and Vice-Chair of Governors were appointed in January 2014.

The proportion of students who are from minority ethnic backgrounds and the proportion who speak English as an additional language are both below average. The proportion of disadvantaged students eligible for the pupil premium is below the national average. This is additional government funding which in this school supports students known to be eligible for free school meals and those in local authority care.

The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is below the national average. The school has a specially resourced provision for students with special educational needs, known as the Achievement Centre. It is run on behalf of the local authority for 12 students with moderate learning difficulties.

At Key Stage 4, five students follow part-time courses at Abingdon and Witney College. The school is part of the Challenge Partners collaboration of schools. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.